The Girlboss Balance: Self-Care and Entrepreneurship

photo by Liz Calka

I love to write. I deeply enjoy putting pen to paper, or fingers to keys, and letting it flow. However, I've been at an unprecedented loss lately when it comes to writing about one of the things I care about most in the world – balance.

As an entrepreneur whose brand and business is all about wellness I do - even when push comes to shove - have to take pretty darn good care of myself.  I am the face of my brand, and as I speak to companies and individuals around the country about the importance of self-care and prioritizing your needs first, I must walk the talk. But it’s not always easy. Even though I enjoy waxing poetic about morning rituals, long luxurious bubble baths, and meditation retreat weekends, the truth of the matter is, that's not my every day. And in the last month of my life especially, since I got a little 3-month-old rescue pup, life has been, admittedly, a bit off balance.

But there’s something so refreshing about being honest with myself and my clients about that tipping point. I’m learning that it actually can be a great teacher and help me distill what is, at the heart of it all, most important to me. The thing about a new puppy (or I imagine new baby, or other demanding creature, or project), is your time is not 100% your own. And as entrepreneur, with a thousand things to do yesterday, one must get super creative and extremely judicious with the time that is available.

You see time is this really funny thing. We all have it. Actually a lot of it, we just don’t always use or prioritize it appropriate to our values. Entrepreneurs everywhere often wear many hats – and are usually quite passionate about what they do. But I find there can be a disconnect between that mission, or those values, and daily tasks. This is where setting context for your day can be a self-care, value-add in a very busy life. 

Lately, I have found it immensely helpful to think about the top 3-5 must do’s in a given day. I also unapologetically mix personal and professional do's, because I think they must hold equal weight to be my best self in the world. For example, today’s list looked like this: 1. Write article about balance, 2. Practice 20 minutes of meditation, 3. Take photos for new blog, 4. Get that one tax question answered that you need to and, 5. Email group coaching women and prep for next week’s session.

I know there are many ways to organize the chaos, but this distilled 3-5 daily note-to-self keeps me honest when I’m in an Instagram wormhole or re-organizing my pantry rather than taking care of what actually matters that day.  We can be so hard on ourselves and demand an extraordinary amount of things in a given day, but truly, accomplishing a few choice tasks can make a huge difference in taking care of yourself and your business needs in this busy world. 

So even though I've delayed the creation of this article for fear of inauthentic writing, I hope these words may still be of benefit. My advice to all you girbosses out there looking for balance is this: come back to your mission. Live it and structure your time around it daily. My mission is to promote greater health and happiness. If I’m doing that in a given day – even if it’s just for myself, my dog, or my hubby, I can take satisfaction in a job well done.

This article was recently featured on Ringlet Market.